Look at me
by KingCeshmotso8602
Summary: Crocodile realizes his cruelty to Robin, he wants her to forgive him, to mend her wounds. But, is it too late?
1. Chapter 1

Look at me

One

It was around midnight when Robin heard the floorboards of the deck creak under a weight, at first she thought it was Franky, with how heavy the feet sounded. Each step echoed in the night, like a steady drum. They were pacing back and forth, right in front of her door. The steady drum soon infuriated her, it's monotonous rhythm, and the heavy breathing outside soon turned her anger into pure terror. She looked over at Nami, who was awake as well. She was staring at her, slightly groggy, but, alarmed enough to register the situation. The silhouette of the figure was tall, taller than the door, and all that Robin and Nami could make out was a chest and a jacket. When the figure crouched down to look into the window, Robin could see a faint outline of slicked back hair, and the jacket's puffy, wool liner.

'Can't be is that ?' She thought, looking at Nami, who had also figured it out. Her tempo was already in her hand, she was slowly leaning out of bed, silently placing one foot on the floorboards as silently as she could. The silk sheets made a soft sound that the man heard perfectly, almost instantly, he left. His footsteps trailing off, Robin and Nami both searched outside the door, carefully, making sure he was gone. The man had left, like a ghost of the night, no trace of him. If Nami and Robin had not known any better, they would have claimed that they saw a ghost. They could not sleep, afraid that the man would come back outside the door.

Morning was too slow to come, Nami had finally drifted off to sleep, and Robin was nodding off when the footsteps returned. This time, faster. Robin opened her mouth, her door flung open and the man's jacket wrapped around her, his chest blocking her mouth, his chin keeping her head locked. As quickly as he had entered, he left. Nami was jerked awake, only to see Robin gone. She called out to her, the door was closed.

'I thought I heard a door slam was it Robin? Why would she slam the door in the dead of night? Is she okay? Did she go outside?' Nami's mind flooded with thoughts as she got out of bed and looked outside, she searched around the deck for her, peeped into the rooms. Finally, after seeing no signs of her, she woke Zoro and Sanji.

Sanji groaned, yawning, rubbing his eyes. "N-Nami? Nami-Chwan, oh what's with the long face?" Nami woke Zoro. At first he was unresponsive, then, he frowned and turned over, his back facing her.

"Wake up!" Nami kicked his back, forcing him over the side of his bed, Usopp gasped, awakened by the loud thud. "Huh? Zoro, why are you on the floor?"

"She kicked me!" Zoro barked, in an awkward position. He was stuck between the wall and the bed.

"Nami, what's wrong?" Sanji never liked to see Nami like this, he could always tell when something was wrong with her, she just gave an aura of grief or sorrow so noticeable when her smile was gone.

"I can't find Robin " She explained, quickly.

"Huh?" Usopp coughed out.

"What?" Zoro growled. " How? What happened?"

"No, not Robin-Chan!" Sanji moaned.

"T-there was a m-man outside our window, he stayed there for a while, then he left. Me and Robin fell asleep, and when I w-woke up to a slam of a door s-she was gone! I've checked everywhere." Nami stuttered.

Zoro and Sanji both stood up, simultaneously, like guardian angels, they were prepared to fight for Robin.

"Anything else we should know about this man?" Sanji and Zoro growled.

(Well, that ends Chapter One, how do you like it? Should I continue?)  



	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

There were no traces of the man, Nami described him, and Usopp froze. 'C-C-C-'

"Crocodile…" Sanji and Zoro snarled, they knew they had to tell Luffy. Yet, the issue of not knowing where Crocodile left with Robin was a problem that made them hesitate. If they told Luffy, he would want to finish Crocodile off then and there, but, without knowing Crocodile's whereabouts, they would get nowhere. Zoro stared at Nami. "So…Crocodile left with Robin, why did you not leave the room and call for help when he left?"

"We checked outside, he was gone, we just assumed he left completely or that we imagined him like a ghost."

"Considering us seeing Brook, ghosts are not uncommon, so…after what we've seen, it's understandable that you'd think it would be possible again. I mean, you can hear Brook's steps, speech and so on. So thinking that a dead Crocodile was just haunting you wouldn't seem too farfetched, but you still should have said something." Sanji mumbled, his index finger and thumb holding his chin in thought. Nami sighed. "Y-you're right…"

Sanji placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Nami…we'll find Robin." Nami looked up at Sanji, she had grown to trust the Straw Hats, ever since they saved her from Arlong…they even saved Robin from CP9 and Crocodile, they could do it again. Nami nodded her head, Zoro smirked, his arms crossed.

"Well, let's inform Luffy…" Zoro implied. Sanji turned to him, nodding. Usopp nodded as well, smiling as they left. He wanted to go back to sleep, but, with Robin missing and Crocodile to blame, he felt an anger that awoke something deep inside of him. Something long lost, but still burning bright. Courage. He stood up, walked out the door, and followed his fellow crew. They were going to tell Luffy together, and together, they were going to get Robin back and end Crocodile once and for all!


	3. Chapter 3

(I know, that was a short chapter. Sorry, I've been having some balancing issues with school restarting again. But, let's continue with Look at me.)

Chapter 3

The rain was peaceful, along with Crocodile. He was staring at Robin, neutral to her enraged expression. She was staring at him with such animosity, that, he began to wonder why she didn't just snap his neck and end this. He opened his mouth to ask her this exact question, yet seeing her eyes narrow, he closed his mouth and listened to the rain. She was laying on the bed, and Crocodile was sitting in an old wooden chair. The boat swayed in the storm, coaxing Crocodile into a deep sleep. He was shocked awake, when he heard the loud explosions of cannons. He soon realized, that the Straw Hats had found him, and must have retrieved Robin. Crocodile slammed his fist on the wooden floor boards, he had let his guard down. Feeling that he could reunite with Robin, start over and hope she forgave him for his fears. Fears that led to him stabbing her in the back in Alabasta. He could not trust anyone for so many years, and now he knew he had to keep distrusting everyone.

"Robin...we're all so glad that you're okay." Nami sighed, she had feared the worst when they saw the ship. It was an old prisoner ship, Brook felt that it was haunted, but that Robin was not on it. Nami's hope was leaving her, but, Zoro, Sanji and Luffy stood strong. Zoro and Sanji knew that they would find Robin, that she would be safe, and that no harm would come to her. Luffy was prepared to end Crocodile, if Robin had even one bruise. When Luffy noticed that Robin was unharmed, he disable Crocodile's ship, making it nigh impossible for him to follow them. As the Straw Hats' ship left, Robin felt a strange sorrow when seeing Crocodile stare at her leaving him again. She wanted to hate him, but, knowing Crocodile's weakness and distrust, felt compelled to comfort him. Was it her female nature, to want to comfort a pained human being? She felt disgusted that she would even classify Crocodile as a human, maybe a humanoid monster. She turned away, blocking out Crocodile's stare. He closed his eyes, the pain of rejection of forgiveness stung. Was she fully unable to forgive him? Crocodile looked up at the sky, the rain was pouring down now, and the lightning showed conflict with the clouds.

"Robin...my cloud, why do you fight me? Could it be that I am too harsh for you? Or am I simply unable to love you by nature?" Crocodile wondered aloud. The rain enraged him, persistent, and oblivious to the harsh reality that the clouds did not want it, letting it out to die on the earth below.

'I cannot be the rain...or perhaps, I am already rain, that does not know it is no more.' Crocodile smiled, realizing that instead of being lightning, instead of being important to Robin, he was rain, she was his cloud who did not want the rain anymore. She had let it go, in Alabasta she had tried to keep the rain inside, but, grew tired with its futility to show strength that it did not have. It had left her intentionally, and she did not attempt to take it back in. The rain fell, vulnerable to the earth below. Could Crocodile truly regret his actions, he only saw Robin as a pawn. All of Baroque Works were pawns...weren't they? Crocodile's facade left him, when Robin was not even visible anymore, the Straw Hats' left with his cloud. The wind did not care to take the cloud, nor the rain. His ship was in ruins, he knew he had only one choice. How could he do that? Crocodile had connections, he grinned.

"We knew you would be fine, Robin!" Sanji exclaimed, dancing around in joy. "You look even more beautiful in the rain, like a mermaid~!" Zoro smiled, his eyes were warm, caring and yet understanding. Knowing that he did not need to say anything, so he left to train. Chopper was sobbing, clinging onto Robin's leg. "We were so worried, Robin!" Brook was ready to play a song, asking the crew what they wanted to hear. Nami opened her mouth to say something, but Sanji cut in. Sanji picked a love song, Nami stared at him, peeved that he had interrupted her. Sanji seemed ignorant of this detail, and went into the kitchen to cook. Luffy was grinning at Robin, telling her: "Glad you're safe...cause if Crocodile had even touched you, I would've ended him!" Robin was wondering why Luffy had not ended Crocodile, she was going to ask him when Zoro screamed out in the training room. The crew rushed to the training room, Zoro was knocked unconscious in the middle of the floor. No barbels were seen around him. Sanji was the first to reach him, Chopper analyzed Zoro's body. "No bruises, no cuts, he looks perfectly fine."

"So, Robin-you would rather be with the swordsman? I would have thought the chef!"

'Crocodile?' The crew thought. Looking up they saw his malicious grin.

"Crocodile, what did you do to him?!" Robin exclaimed, tears welling into her eyes. "If you hurt him..." Crocodile grinned, malice in his eyes. Hands grabbed at Crocodile, who quickly transformed into sand and returned to a solid state away from the attack. He cackled. "You've gotten slow, Robin...spending too much time with the Straw Hats..." Crocodile quickly became enraged, his emotions caused a bipolar effect that Robin shuttered from, she remembered those fits of happiness to rage and sadness. Crocodile was unstable...

"I should have killed Zoro, I simply wanted to lure you all here with his yell, so that I could _slaughter_ you all!" Crocodile tilted his head back and laughed maniacally. Robin had never seen him like this, the fits that she saw were somewhat controlled, but, now...Crocodile was edging towards insane. Robin was going to attack again, to subdue Crocodile, when Luffy came up with a better idea and punched him with a haki-covered fist straight to the chest. Crocodile slid backwards, his feet skidding over the wooden boards of the ship. As he regained balance, he growled. His eyes shrunk to black dots as Crocodile began to lose control. "Luffy, stop! Something is wrong, Crocodile is...unstable..."

"Unstable?" The crew asked, instantaneously.

"What do you mean, unstable...Robin?" Chopper asked, perplexed. He was hiding behind Sanji's pants leg, staring at the now hunched over and twitching Crocodile, a dark silhouette with burning red eyes and sharp ivory teeth...an enraged crocodile. His fur-lined jacket was flapping in a harsh wind that surrounded his body. Luffy scowled at this, explaining to the crew what was happening. "Crocodile is using haki...Robin,Chopper, take care of Zoro, Nami; go with Robin and Chopper , Sanji, get ready to fight." Luffy commanded his crew.

"But, Luffy-."

"Go, Robin...now!" Sanji barked, walking towards Luffy. Robin stared at Luffy, Sanji and Crocodile. Nami grabbed her arm, and pulled her back inside. Sanji's ocean blue eyes locked onto the silhouette. Luffy's onyx eyes glared at Crocodile, he channeled his haki through his body and readied for Crocodile to move. Sanji readied his diable jambe. Luffy wished Zoro was with them, but, even with Zoro, Luffy knew that it would still be difficult to defeat this feral Crocodile. Luffy charged and Sanji followed, Crocodile bellowed, he leaned back as haki waved forward, knocking Sanji backwards. Luffy slowed down, surprised by the strength of Crocodile's haki. He forced himself through, Sanji tried again, struggling against the haki. Luffy bellowed, gaining momentum and Sanji followed. Crocodile lunged at the two, his haki lifted, Luffy tilted forward. The surprise of the sudden stop of energy, made Luffy fall forward. He felt as if time had slowed, each step of Crocodile seemed to take hours, he could hear his heartbeat rapidly increase. Sanji's feet slowed, a skid was heard as he changed direction to attempt to avoid the feral Crocodile. Luffy felt slow, useless...he could not fall quick enough. He stomped his foot down on the boards, turning his left ankle, cranking his right arm back to sock Crocodile before he attacked. Luffy let his arm shoot forward, Crocodile tilted his head out of the way and Luffy retracted his arm. Crocodile sliced his chest, before Luffy could comprehend what had happened, Sanji's throat was in Crocodile's large jaw, his ivory teeth stained scarlet. Luffy felt a rage burn inside of him, and charged at Crocodile. Everything turned white...

(Done with this one...Did you rike it?)


	4. Chapter 4

Look at Me Chapter 4

As the white faded away, Luffy realized that he was frozen in place by haki. He felt cold as he noticed that Sanji and Crocodile were missing, his brown eyes frantically searched for them; and he broke the haki with his own. He needed to make sure that the others were safe, he didn't know how long he was out or what even happened to make him white out. He rushed to the kitchen, he didn't see anyone, he looked behind him to search for any hidden enemies or crew. He then rushed upstairs, no one...the deck...no one...there was no sign of his crew.

Luffy fell to his knees, he had failed his crew...all of them...he squeezed his eyes shut and dug his nails into his scalp. He was weak...he was still weak...he didn't want to be weak, he wanted to protect his crew. He didn't know where his crew was, neither where Crocodile was...he felt helpless...he thought about Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Chopper, Robin, Franky and Brook.

Luffy snapped his head up, staring at the horizon with determination, he needed to find his crew, they needed him, he didn't care how-he would find them. Luffy got up, he went to steer the ship...though, he needed a navigator, he began to steer the ship, hoping for a clue to Crocodile's whereabouts or his crew's.

Zoro cringed, he felt a burning sensation cascading around his body, the burning turned into an annoying itch under his skin. He attempted to scratch the back of his neck, which had begun to itch violently, his eyes flew open when another hand swatted at his. He turned around, yelling out from the painful twinge in his shoulders. His chest tightened, he fell back coughing. Chopper rushed to his side while Zoro clawed at his neck.  
"Is he chocking?" Nami asked, trying to hold Zoro's hands down.  
"I don't think so...his scars might be affected by the strange atmosphere of this ship...looking at it, his scars are infected." Chopper explained, taking out some anesthetics and bandages. Zoro and Sanji had been imprisoned, away from his crew members due to Crocodile knowing that they were the most dangerous of the Straw Hats, other than Luffy. Nami and Chopper were left in another corridor below the ships deck and Robin was forced to be glued to Crocodile. Robin was stone-faced, she never left Crocodile's side even when he was back to normal after the fight.

'Again he's forced her to abide by his rules, most likely telling her that if she tried anything to help us, he would kill us.' Nami thought, a sickening feeling grew inside of her and she gave Crocodile a sour glare. He stared at her, emotionless, his eyes empty and dull, yet still feral and challenging like a crocodile's. He surveyed the lower deck area before dragging Robin back upstairs with him, she silently followed.  
'Why does she not attack him? She's so close to him...no, she needs to silently attack, perhaps with poison or a surprise attack. His trust in her is most likely close to none, she must be careful or else Crocodile will kill her _and_ us...' Nami thought, catching the attention of Chopper.

"Nami, are you alright?" He asked, finally finished wrapping Zoro with ointment bandages. Nami sighed, those coal eyes getting the best of her. She confided in Chopper...  
"It...it just sickens me how Crocodile pushes Robin around, taking advantage of her emotions...it is not right..." Nami growled, her hands balling into fists as she sat on her knees in front of Chopper.  
"True...though...if I were to make a synopsis, Crocodile is very...unstable." Chopper stated, frankly. Nami almost laughed, the idea of a former Schichibukai being mentally unstable was...ridiculous.  
"If he is able to be so cunning and manipulative, then he is far from unstable, Chopper."  
"Well...I'm just a doctor of medicine...the mind is very complex compared to the body." Chopper sighed, sitting down, he glanced over to Zoro and felt a twinge of guilt.  
"If only I had used the...no...I would have lost control...but...I could have been of use and both Zoro and Sanji...maybe...they would not be so beat up...' Chopper thought. He looked up at Nami.  
"Nami...could you help me get Sanji?" Chopper asked. Nami nodded and looked for a way to climb up to the cell Sanji was in high above the ground.

'I need to be careful, one false move and both of us could be injured...or worse.'

Luffy yelled, frustrated...he could find neither land nor ship-he sighed, glaring at the sunset, refusing to give up. He gasped as he heard a sound coming from the kitchen, he rushed to see who was on his ship-no one was on the ship when he checked, and he had not stopped around land, nor seen any land masses where anyone could board his ship. He bust open the door to see a surprised group of people, yelp in alarm.  
"Oh-my **tea**!"  
"My **cola** ~!"  
"My **nose**!"  
A smile grew on Luffy's face...Brook, Franky and Usopp were somehow on his ship.

"Where did you guys come from? I didn't see you earlier?" Luffy asked, laughing.  
"We hid under the floorboards! No one can capture the 'Mighty Usopp'!" Usopp lied, proudly puffing out his chest.  
"You were caught, liar-I had to grab you and fling you under the floors!" Franky exclaimed. Luffy, Brook and Franky all laughed as Usopp stuttered and flustered about, emberassed.

"All right! Together, I know we can find the rest of the crew! Let's GO!" Luffy pointed to the horizon.  
"Right...cause I know where the ship is..." Franky stated.  
"Really? How?" Luffy aksed.  
"When we were attacked, I told Franky to put a snail on Zoro, and I put one on Sanji...Usopp put one on Chopper-though, they won't realize it..." Brook explained, cheerfully.  
"Why won't they notice?" Luffy asked, confused. Snails were usually fairly large, you would have to be blind not to see one and deaf not to hear one!  
"They are special ones that I made!" Franky explained, proudly. "They are prototypes that I designed especially for stealth and are useful for spying and gaining information during kidnappings! They are cyborg snails and each have a bit of my tracking data from my motherboard in them...though very little so that I can still function and feel them."  
" _ **WOW**_!" Luffy exclaimed, starry eyed.  
"I'll tell you where they are...for now, let's head West." Franky explained.  
"Ok..." Luffy stood in front of the navigation and stared at the horizon.  
"You don't know where West is do you, Luffy?" Usopp asked, knowing the answer.  
" _NOPE_!" Luffy barked, frankly.  
(End of Chapter 4)


	5. Chapter 5

Look at me Chapter 5

"Alright…West is…here!" Franky turned the boat to the West, Luffy searched about the ocean, hanging off of the railing, looking for any sign of another ship or land. "Franky, do you know if they're in a ship…or on land?" Luffy asked.

"…The Snails…they're on a ship…but they're not on our friends-so the ship could be inactive and our friends could be on an island…I'm sorry, but it is a 50/50 chance of us finding them…" Luffy stared up at Franky, blankly…his blank stare turned into a broad grin as he stated: "We'll find them…"

Brook was drinking tea, looking over the railings also, Usopp was rushing from side to side of the ship, checking for any signs of ships and land as well.

"We'll find all of you…and we'll be on this ship…we'll find you…" Luffy continuously stated, believing it more as he continued to say it.

"The snails say that the ship is close by…"

"Really?"

"Yeah, we've been sailing for hours, Luffy!"

"Oh…didn't notice."

"You were chanting over there…it's no surprise, there!"

"Alright! Let's go!" Usopp blurted out.

"Usopp! Shhhh…" Brook warned, putting a bone to his lips.

"Oops…sorry."

"We need to be silent…" Franky sighed.

Luffy looked around, the ship was tattered, as if it had been in a war, it was abnormal for it to have even be afloat…it was evening time and the water was dark blue, a lilac tone to the sky and the boat was a mix of light brown and mocha.

Luffy pulled his arms back and grabbed onto the railing, it broke, instantly and he almost fell into the water. His fingers dipped into the water and he felt sick.

"Yoho~We need to get across…without touching the water…but that ship is so…ragged, that…" Brook froze, looked at Franky.

"I know…frankly, only about 2 of us can get on that ship…it is so frail…we need the two lightest people.

"I'll go first!" Brook exclaimed, rushing across the water, he jumped, landing on the boat without so much as a tap. Luffy rushed forward, he looked back at Usopp, who nodded. He stretched back his sling thrower and aimed for Luffy's feet. Each step was guided by a Lilly pad that elevated until Luffy was high enough to jump onto the ship. He and Brook slid into the darkness of the ship. Franky and Usopp hid the ship in the darkness of the night.

Luffy and Brook silently crept through the dark ruins of a ship until they found doors. One by one they opened them, searching, silently closing them. They found stairs leading down, they quickly walked down them, careful to not make a noise.

'They must be here!' Luffy thought, he stopped at the bottom of the stairwell and gasped at the ghastly sight. Moss-covered walls caked in blood splatters, three swords on the ground, an infamous hat on the ground, a tempo covered in blood left, and a now extinguished cigarette fell from a cage. Luffy shook his head. Brook covered his mouth, terrified.

"No…are we…?" Brook began.

"No! We're not…we can't be! They must still be alive! He just moved them!" Luffy bellowed. Luffy shook his head, Brook walked towards the treasures…they all belonged to their friends, but one was missing…

"Robin!" Brook gasped. A gunshot rang, Brook turned, seeing Luffy on the floor and Robin aiming a gun towards him.

"…R…Robin?" Brook shook in fear, he back away, confused.

Robin silently pulled the trigger, the sea stone bullet going through him. He let out a cry, his spin cracked, he fell back. Before everything went black, Brook felt the boat shift, then footsteps cascading towards the stairs, two more gunshots and three yells. Then all went black.


End file.
